


Making up lore

by NyeLung



Series: Paradoxaverse [12]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Headcanon, I see a canon and go but what if there was more, author ramblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 00:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29001321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyeLung/pseuds/NyeLung
Summary: Just a place to post headcanon ramblings within the Paradoxaverse that are too long for chapter notes. For example about the Gilyadian Oath.
Series: Paradoxaverse [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/622231
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	Making up lore

Alright, so in Paradoxa - The Dutiful Chapter 16 (Chapter 17 by ao3 counting), I had Mij Gilamar mention the Gilyadian Oath. Basically, I wrote that scene and then realized "hmmm, there's no Hippocratic Oath in Star Wars", then did a little research and asked friends who know more about star wars canon(s) than I do and... well, then things escalated as they always do.  
In MedStar there's a scene where a doctor muses over a quote by the doctor Bahm Gilyad who lived roundabout 5000 years before the Clone Wars. Didn't have the chance yet to skim read through the book for that exact scene but apparently Gilyad formalized the rules for being a doctor in the galactic context. Which to me sounds a lot like the Hippocratic Oath since that one in the wording I found basically does the same of "yeah, I'm going to obey by the rules, honour my teacher and swear to teach in return, no harm done, confidentiality has to be upheld etc".  
But, well, 5000 years before the Clone Wars seems to be a little late for a first version of some kind of Healer's Codex since, for example, the Jedi (or rather Jen'jidaii) have been around for 36000 years roundabouts. And there were faster than light travelling civilizations even before that. Well, at least in old canon. I admit that I don't know yet how much of that was carried over into new canon. Wait. I think the Infinity Gates are also a part of new canon thanks to the Dathomir witches?  
Anyway, the Jen'jidaii on Tython apparently had 9 temples of different specialization (the ruins of Kaleth one can explore in SWTOR were one of these temples, namely the Temple of Knowledge) and one of those temples was Mahara Kesh, the Temple of Healing. So, I thought that if there's something like that then they probably also had a Code that they swore to as healers.

"I swear the oath of Mahara Kesh as the Force be my witness, Ashla, Bendu and Bogan. I swear to uphold this oath to my ability and judgment.  
By the Force I swear to honour my teacher and care for them just as they honoured and cared for me. I swear to share my knowledge and the teachings of this art to those willing to learn and live under the same oath as I.  
By the Force I swear to do no harm nor injustice to those in my care. I swear to use my greatest ability and my judgement to benefit them.  
By the Force I swear to not divulge what I witness in the course of my profession as well as outside my profession under the pledge of secrecy if it be what should not be published abroad.  
This oath of Mahara Kesh I swear by the Force as the Force is my witness, Ashla, Bendu and Bogan. May the Force strike me down if I break this oath and forswear myself."

Since the Jen'jidaii Order followed the concept of three parts of the Force (Ashla, Bendu and Bogan, which were light, balance, dark respectively), I thought it fitting to have this version of the old oath call upon them like one has called upon the gods in the older versions of the Hippocratic Oath. And since we're talking early Jedi, they swear by the Force and since the Force is the centre of their whole belief (and also their being, I think), every single part is also sworn by the Force. Basically, this is just the Hippocratic Oath translated into Star Wars terms with the parts about abortion and assisted suicide omitted since while I understand that it's a big debate with no perfect answer in real life, I can see that in the GFFA it is left to the discretion of the healer if or how they want to involve themselves in those areas.  
I also like to think that an oath sworn by the Force is pretty binding, so I wouldn't try to break it. Did I read too much in the "The Force is an eldritch being"-trope? possibly.

Then, of course, the age of the Jen'jidaii passes, the philosophy of Ashla, Bendu and Bogan is pushed out and forgotten and we get schisms among the Jedi Order which leads to the Jedi becoming more strict and lightside while the Order of Sith takes its first steps and goes the exact other direction with turning almost pure chaos feral and darkside. The Jedi also leave Tython some time and the old temples fall into ruins. By the time of swtor (3650 BBY, +/- 50 years) we can explore Kaleth but the other temples seem to be mostly lost and forgotten and the Jedi have other things on their mind than explore the whole of the old Tython.  
Still, history in our world shows often enough that while things may be lost and forgotten some fragments often enough remain. No, I cannot name a specific example right now, I'm not the history student in this house. But, like, some things just stay with us. I want to name the story of Noah's arch but that's not as old as the time we're bridging here. On the other hand... Star Wars already has better memory devices etc in even that time. So, yeah, headcanon stuff.  
Long story short, the Jedi Healers probably still swear a similar oath, just changed to fit their Order and while (in my headcanon) they call it the Maharaic Oath, it's no longer known why it's called Maharaic Oath. Like. Was that a person? A place? An order of healers? Especially when we reach the Clone Wars and the Jedi Order has developed some very strict rules and gone through a lot of sackings of their Temples, wars and reforms and lost a lot of knowledge, I think that while it's still being called the Maharaic Oath, it's no longer known why.

"I swear by the Force to uphold this oath to my best ability and judgment.  
By the Force I swear to honour my teachings. I swear to better myself. I swear to share my teachings and knowledge so that others can better themselves by this same oath.  
By the Force I swear to do no harm nor injustice to those in need. I swear to use my abilities and judgement to help and benefit them.  
By the Force I swear to keep secret what I witness in the course of my profession as well as uphold the pledge of secrecy to all things that need not be divulged to the public.  
I swear this oath by the Force and with the Force as my witness. May the Force strike me down if I break this oath and forswear myself."

So the overall structure is still the same for the simple reason that it's pragmatical. This way you ensure that your teachers are cared for, that you don't end up stagnant (how well that worked in the end? eh... well) and that you have a successor or more once you yourself die. And also that your knowledge - and Jedi healing can be fatal in the wrong hands - is not put into wrong hands. Or well, you can at least hope.  
It's no longer to not harm those in your care but in need because the Jedi Order has a different role in the galaxy than the Jen'jidaii.  
And since the Jedi Order had some episodes were they were hardlining their restrictions and rules and the "only the Force" stuff, I wanted that to be reflected in the oath by an overabundance of swearing by the Force more so even than in the Oath of Mahara Kesh.

And then we get to the Gilyadian Oath. I like to think that Bahm Gilyad may have been a Jedi or at least worked closely with them and given his time period (the Great Hyperspace Wars), both is likely and that therefore his wording and basic idea of formalizing a doctor's ethics and all is very closely related to the Maharaic Oath except, since not every doctor is a Jedi and in fact by the time of the Clone Wars most doctors aren't Jedi, the Gilyadian completely ignores the Force's existence.

"I swear, stars be my witness, to carry out this oath to my best ability and judgment.  
I swear to honour my teacher and to put them under my care as they have honoured and care for me. I swear to teach and share my knowledge to those who share and live by this same oath.  
I swear to do no harm nor injustice to my patients and to use my best ability and judgement to their benefit.  
I swear to uphold the pledge of secrecy towards all I witness in the course of my profession as well as regarding my course of profession.  
This I swear, stars be my witness, and I will accept any punishment should I break this oath and forswear myself."

And I think it's a version of this oath that Mij swore when he became a doctor. Please note that in this version it says "to do no harm nor injustice to my patients" instead of "those in need" like in the Jedi Oath.

Yeah. I probably put far too much effort in this for just mentioning this oath like twice. So if anyone wants to work off these headcanons for their own fics, feel free to do so. Maybe throw me a hint that you're doing so so that I can go and be curious^^


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